Young animals are highly susceptible to intestinal damage due to incomplete intestinal development, making them vulnerable to external stimuli. Weaning stress in piglets, for instance, disrupts the balance of intestinal microbiota and metabolism, triggering intestinal inflammation and resulting in gut damage. Caffeic acid (CA), a plant polyphenol, can potentially improve intestinal health. Here, we evaluated the effects of dietary CA on the intestinal barrier and microbiota using a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced intestinal damage model. Eighteen piglets were divided into three groups: control group (CON), LPS group (LPS), and CA + LPS group (CAL). On the 21st and 28th day, six piglets in each group were administered either LPS (80 μg/kg body weight; Escherichia coli O55:B5) or saline. The results showed that dietary CA improved the intestinal morphology and barrier function, and alleviated the inflammatory response. Moreover, dietary CA also improved the diversity and composition of the intestinal microbiota by increasing Lactobacillus and Terrisporobacter while reducing Romboutsia. Furthermore, the LPS challenge resulted in a decreased abundance of 14 different bile acids and acetate, which were restored to normal levels by dietary CA. Lastly, correlation analysis further revealed the potential relationship between intestinal microbiota, metabolites, and barrier function. These findings suggest that dietary CA could enhance intestinal barrier function and positively influence intestinal microbiota and its metabolites to mitigate intestinal damage in piglets. Consuming foods rich in CA may effectively reduce the incidence of intestinal diseases and promote intestinal health in piglets.

中文翻译：

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咖啡酸在脂多糖攻击的仔猪模型中调节肠道微生物群，减轻炎症反应并增强屏障功能


由于肠道发育不完全，幼龄动物极易受到肠道损伤，从而容易受到外界刺激。例如，仔猪的断奶应激会破坏肠道微生物群和新陈代谢的平衡，引发肠道炎症并导致肠道损伤。咖啡酸 (CA) 是一种植物多酚，可以改善肠道健康。在这里，我们使用脂多糖 (LPS) 诱导的肠道损伤模型评估了膳食 CA 对肠道屏障和微生物群的影响。 18头仔猪分为三组：对照组（CON）、LPS组（LPS）和CA+LPS组（CAL）。第21天和第28天，每组6头仔猪注射LPS（80μg/kg体重；大肠杆菌O55：B5）或盐水。结果表明，膳食CA改善了肠道形态和屏障功能，减轻了炎症反应。此外，膳食CA还通过增加乳杆菌和特里斯孢杆菌同时减少Romboutsia来改善肠道微生物群的多样性和组成。此外，LPS 挑战导致 14 种不同胆汁酸和乙酸的丰度下降，通过膳食 CA 将其恢复到正常水平。最后，相关性分析进一步揭示了肠道微生物群、代谢物和屏障功能之间的潜在关系。这些研究结果表明，日粮中的CA可以增强肠道屏障功能，并对肠道微生物群及其代谢物产生积极影响，从而减轻仔猪的肠道损伤。食用富含CA的食物可有效降低仔猪肠道疾病的发生率，促进仔猪肠道健康。